McBride still has much to prove to Colorado Rockies

An all-star Triple-A season in 2012 doesn't guarantee a Major League job this spring for the Bethlehem native.

McBride, a standout at Liberty High and Lehigh University, had a banner… (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO )

January 12, 2013|By Jeff Schuler, Of The Morning Call

After getting his first taste of life in the Major Leagues last summer, Matt McBride was planning to relax this off-season.

However, the Colorado Rockies had other ideas for the Bethlehem native.

"When I got called up I told myself I wasn't going to play winter ball this year; I was just going to relax and get ready for spring training," McBride, a standout at Liberty High and Lehigh University, said. "But later in the season the Rockies said they'd like me to go play first base down there, and I ended up deciding to do that."

The request was another sign that McBride — despite a banner 2012 season that saw the 27-year-old play in the Triple-A All-Star game, finish third in the Pacific Coast League in hitting (and among the top four in three other offensive categories), and spend six weeks in a Rockies uniform — is still in the "show-me" phase of his career.

With a change in the Rockies' manager's office — former major league shortstop Walt Weiss has replaced Jim Tracy, who resigned following the 2012 season — McBride wants to do everything possible to convince the organization he deserves a spot on the big league roster.

Even with his 2012 success, spring training 2013 will "just be almost like any other year," McBride said.

"I liked Jim Tracy, I liked playing for him, but there's a new manager now, and I just have to go out and play hard every day," McBride said last week. "That's all you can really do, and then you see what happens."

"It's not like there's a job being handed to him, but is he a legitimate competitor for a spot? Absolutely," said Jeff Bridich, Colorado's senior director for player development. "Anybody who goes to a major league spring training camp should go with some expectations and desire to earn a major league spot, and he's put himself in a position to feel that way and think that way."

McBride, who also plays both corner outfield positions and catcher, gave the Rockies a lot to think about in his first full season in the organization. Obtained in a 2011 deadline deal from Cleveland, McBride hit .387 over his first month at Triple-A Colorado Springs and was hitting .354 when he received the first big-league call-up of his six-year pro career on Aug. 3.

He made his major league debut the next night at Coors Field, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI against San Francisco, and hit .200 (4-for-20) in nine games before being sent back down on Aug. 16. He finished the PCL season third in extra-base hits (58) and doubles (42) and fourth in RBIs (87) while adding 10 homers.

"It was a great summer, and I'm just trying to learn from it," McBride said.

Bridich said observers and critics need to look past the PCL's reputation for inflating numbers and examine how McBride accumulated those statistics.

"What attracted is to him in the first place is that he's a good athlete, a versatile athlete, with a simple swing," Bridich said. "He knows what type of hitter he, a contact hitter who uses doubles, triples, singles to drive in runs. He'll pop some homers for you but he's a line-to-line hitter, a guy who uses the whole field."

McBride returned to the Rockies on Sept. 5 and wound up hitting .205 (16-for-78) in 31 games, including .308 (4-for-13) as a pinch-hitter, with two doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs.

"It's tough to rush to any sort of conclusion based on such a small sample," Bridich said. "He showed well in a number of areas, and he showed his youth and nervousness in a number of areas, and that's to be expected."

A few weeks after the season, McBride headed for the Dominican Winter League, where he joined Toros del Este on Oct. 14. After a slow start, McBride hit safely in 11 of his last 16 games, batting .346 (18-for-52) over that stretch to finish at .250 with eight doubles, a homer and 14 RBIs in 96 at-bats.

The Rockies, however, were more interested in his glove work at first base.

"With his routes and his jumps we know he's a solid corner guy in the outfield, but we needed to give him more time at first base," Bridich said. "He showed an ability to improve as a first baseman throughout the season, which we knew he would because he's a tireless worker with a great work ethic."

The Rockies had one more surprise for McBride in the off-season, removing him from the Major League 40-man roster by outrighting him to Triple-A. After clearing waivers, the move made McBride a six-year free agent, but circumstances quickly led him back to the Rockies.

"I'm not really sure how it all works, but basically I had 24 or 48 hours to sign back with the Rockies or declare free agency. But if I did, I couldn't sign back with them until mid-May," McBride said. "I like the organization, and they gave me a good offer, so I signed right away.